The Paper Round.

The Paper Round

It was an exceptionally cold morning. Not a good time to be doing a paper round. I stopped walking at the end of my drive and looked up the hill to where I was to deliver my papers.

There was a slight dusting of frost along the tops of the fences but the road remained dull and wet. Soggy leaves were gathered at the side of the kerb creating a layer of squelchy slush. The lamposts were still slightly glowing and the sky was a light grey, lit up by the hidden sun.

As I began walking along the path, I looked around at the surrounding gardens. A brisk wind rattled the trees, sending a cascading stream of leaves, like a golden waterfall, onto the damp, puddle covered street.

The ground beneath a large horse chestnut tree was covered in broken conker shells and the occasional conker. A squirrel bounded out from a hedge, ran into the road, picked up an unbroken conker, gave a quick glance around, then sped up the neighbouring giant oak carrying the conker with him.

Most of the houses had short front drives. The letter boxes were ice cold and difficult to open. Little fires lit up front rooms giving them a warm, glowing look, very different to the harsh weather outside. Christmas decorations sparkled in the light of the fire.

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There was an icy quietness covering the neighbourhood, but this silence was shattered when I approached one of the houses. Two milk bottles stood by a dirty catflap. I slipped and stumbled my way up the frozen drive to the front door, it was then that I heard it, a loud low bark. The colossal dog charged towards me like a bull causing considerable damage to a vase on its rampage towards the door. SMASH!!! Its humongous mouth burst through the cat-flap and barked furiously at me, showing its sharp, dagger like teeth. Drool sprayed from its mouth as the never-ending onslaught continued. I edged my way out of the drive and was relieved to here the barking subside. Misty breath poured out of its nose like smoke from a dragon. The beast slowly took its mouth out of the cat flap and returned to its lair

Next was the largest house on my round. It wasn’t a house, more like a castle. It’s elaborate black and gold gates creaked open revealing the foggy expanse of garden. The house was so far away and the fog was so thick, I could barely make out the grey silhouette of this exquisite mansion. The tall pine trees that lined the path had covered the ground with millions of their needles. To my right was a large lake with a strange mist hovering above the surface. Two swans stood staring at me as I walked along from a small, bush covered island in the middle of the lake. To my left there was a swimming pool. A blue plastic sheet was spread over it, like a quilt protecting it from the freezing weather. Around the pool stood stone statues of angels. A quiet “neigh” came from the stables behind the pool. The garden was well kept. The lawn was short and green and was covered in small silver beads of dew.

The house itself was Tudor looking. White, stone walls were bordered with thick black oak beams. The tiled roof had a dull red colour to it. Ivy hung from the gutter, entwined with white Christmas fairy lights. Near the front door was a small circular pond. Reeds grew out of it and large orange and black koi karp swam in and out of the shadows. In the middle of the pond was another statue. Water sprayed out of the top of it making ripples on the surface. The front door was solid oak and about two metres high. The wide letterbox hung below a large door knocker. I slid the paper in and heard the loud echo as it landed on the wooden floor. It was a magnificent house.

The fog was clearing now as I was nearing the end of the paper round. The smell of eggs and bacon filled the air as people began to make their breakfast. The clouds were also disappearing, revealing the bright sun that made the spiders webs covered with dew sparkle like expensive diamonds. The sky was bright blue but the wind was still icy cold.

At the top of the hill, the road turned into a pebble covered lane. Very old cottages lined the road with smoke coming out of the chimneys. Tall green hedges filled with unpicked, shrivelled up black berries linked the gardens. A cat sat happily in the sun on the top of an old brick wall.

The very last house stood next to the fields. Countless miles of green, undulating hills were spread out like a gigantic sea. A stream meandered through them and disappeared behind the houses. A heron stood in the river, occasionally diving its head underwater and wildly flapping its wings. A fisherman sat nearby on a stool. His fishing line was on his right and a drink container on his left. He was reading a newspaper and smoking a pipe. A herd of cows stood quietly in a fenced off field. They just stood and grazed on the grass. A large group of sparrows flew noisily over my head. They looped back round and flew off into the distance.

So I began walking back down the hill. The trolley which once held the papers was now light and easy to pull. People were just starting to emerge from their houses, scraping the ice off the car windows so they could do the last of their Christmas shopping. The dog which I had encountered earlier was now walking with its owner and didn’t even look up when it passed me. Its dragon like breath still coming out of its nose and its tongue hanging between its dagger like teeth. The rain had stopped but the water on the road had frozen solid making walking extremely difficult. I picked my way down the hill. I would be home in two minutes.

The sun had gone in and a grey cloud had covered the sky. In an instant, the heavens opened. Hail and rain fired down like missiles towards the earth. I pulled the hood of my jacket over my head and ran, pulling the trolley behind me. Lightning struck somewhere up in the fields behind me.
I dived in through my front door and gave a sigh of relief. “You’re back early,” said my mum as I joined them for breakfast.

By James Roberts